From 28-0 hole to hero: Kapaun football’s bold overtime call shocks Northwest
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- Kapaun erased a 28-0 deficit and defeated Northwest 43-42 in overtime.
- Coach Weston Schartz opted for a decisive two-point conversion to win.
- Victory secured Kapaun’s lead in City League and ended Northwest’s unbeaten run.
Weston Schartz didn’t need to calculate the odds. He didn’t need to glance at a chart or crunch the percentages.
When the Kapaun Mt. Carmel football coach had a chance to end Friday night’s showdown against Northwest with one play, he trust his gut.
And his players made sure it was the right call.
Moments after Ken Huff’s overtime touchdown pulled the Crusaders within one point, Schartz called timeout to formulate a plan. Instead of sending out the kicker to force a second overtime, he doubled down on the same run play that had just worked.
Left guard Sebastian Veatch pulled to seal the lane and fullback Pete Keller cleared the path that Huff used to score the game-winning, two-point conversion in Kapaun’s 43-42 victory at Stryker Complex.
“We were running out of gas and it was time to either finish it or get beat,” Schartz said. “Anytime you can get a game down to one play like that against a great football team, we’re going to take our shot.”
That shot turned what had started as a disaster — a 28-0 hole after 15 minutes — into one of the great comebacks of Schartz’s storied career. The win also handed Northwest (3-1, No. 2 in Class 6A) its first loss and gave Kapaun (4-0, No. 1 in Class 4A) the inside track in the City League championship race.
“It was fun at the end, but a nightmare at the beginning,” Schartz said.
The nightmare came quickly. Northwest punched in four touchdowns within three minutes of the second quarter, two from star running back Augie Fast on the ground and a 63-yard strike from quarterback Jaylen Mason, a Kansas commit, to Griffin Baker. The Grizzlies looked untouchable, just as they had all season.
But Kapaun had been here before — in 2021, when it erased an 18-point, second-half deficit against the same opponent in the playoffs. Schartz reminded his players of that and the rally began. Huff found the end zone and quarterback Cole Rapp connected with Axel Pondei for a 32-yard score before halftime, then Huff and Cal Purvis powered in third-quarter touchdowns to even the score with 1:46 left in the third quarter.
Northwest reclaimed the lead on a 48-yard dash by Johnmichael Fountain, but injuries to both Fountain and Fast shifted momentum. Keller tied the game with a 36-yard fullback dive early in the fourth quarter, then a dramatic, four-play goal-line stand by the Crusaders’ defense preserved the tie heading to overtime.
Northwest struck first with Mason hitting Baker for another touchdown. But when Huff answered and Schartz waved off the kicker, the stage was set.
“They just kept clawing back and it was a lot of fun to sit back and watch it,” Schartz said. “That was definitely a game you’ll always remember.”
It was also the kind of night that told Schartz something deeper about his team in its pursuit of the program’s first state championship since 1987.
“The truth is anybody can play when you’re winning,” he said. “Show me what happens when you’re losing. I wanted to see who stepped up, who kept plugging away and who was going to fold. I saw a lot of winners out there and we didn’t have any guys fold. That’s going to be big for us (in November) when we’re up against other good teams.”
This story was originally published September 27, 2025 at 5:01 AM.
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